pdf-ebookys Chapter 250 Concubine Li was demoted
Chapter 250 Concubine Li was demoted
"Why are you crying? Your beautiful makeup will be ruined by your tears. It won't look good anymore." Emperor Jing stood up and walked to Concubine Li. He bent down and raised his hand to hold up Concubine Li's chin.
Concubine Li immediately put on a pitiful look, looking like a tearful pear blossom in the rain, in an attempt to arouse Emperor Jing's sympathy.
She had just been dragged out of the garden where the women were by the royal guards, and for a moment she didn't understand what she had done wrong.
It was not like the way Concubine Li had seen people being punished in the palace before, and the scenes were all the same as how the imperial guards had just treated her.
But she really didn't know what she had done wrong and why Emperor Jing suddenly became disgusted with her.
Clearly, the Queen Mother's summer banquet was given to her to supervise a few days ago.
Concubine Li raised her eyes and looked at Emperor Jing, looking at him hesitantly, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I am in pain."
"That's right, it hurts." Emperor Jing had a cruel smile on his face, and Concubine Li's eyes were wide open with disbelief.
"Your brother relied on my love for you to help others in Suzhou to privately open iron mines, privately forge weapons, and conceal taxes and evade silver. These crimes are enough to execute the entire Lu family."
"No, my brother would not do those things." Concubine Li kept shaking her head.
"Maybe your daily expenses in the palace are also helped by your brother."
"This..." Concubine Li was stunned for a moment. Her brother did often bring her large sums of money, various antique treasures, precious jewelry and jade from outside the palace to facilitate her management in the palace and to improve her appearance.
The expenses of each concubine in the palace are regulated, so if the concubines in the harem want to live a comfortable and happy life, they must ask their maternal family to send money and goods to the palace from time to time as a tribute.
Even though Concubine Li was favored in the palace, if she wanted to have better expenses than other concubines in all aspects, she had to spend money out of her own pocket to subsidize them.
It is difficult to check money, but it is possible to check items that do not belong to the palace.
At this time, ever since Concubine Li was brought here by the Imperial Guards, some of them have already gone to search Concubine Li's palace.
Soon someone handed over a booklet, which listed many treasures from Concubine Li's palace that did not belong to the imperial palace.
Emperor Jing glanced at the booklet and then threw it in front of Concubine Li.
"This, these, but I didn't know, I didn't know these were... No one told me when my brother sent them to me..." Concubine Li sat decadently on the ground, staring in a daze at the items written on the open account book.
"Hmph, with your brother's salary, how could he have saved up so much wealth?" Emperor Jing sat back on the dragon throne and looked at Prince Li again.
When Prince Li saw Emperor Jing looking at him, he frowned and said, "The matter of Suzhou has nothing to do with me."
Qi Lingheng, who was listening at the side, raised his eyebrows. As expected, Prince Li denied all the evidence.
He was not directly involved and did not leave enough evidence to arrest him. He refused to admit his guilt and Emperor Jing could not force him to admit it.
However, today's forcing of the emperor to abdicate by these men in black and what happened in the camp outside the capital are enough to convict Prince Li.
"Then please ask Prince Li to go to the Dali Temple and explain in detail what these men in black and those people in the camp outside the capital did today." Qi Lingheng walked up to Prince Li and waved his hand to signal the Imperial Guards to take Prince Li away.
Prince Li looked at Qi Lingheng hatefully, then turned to look at Emperor Jing. In the end, he said nothing and was taken away from the palace by the Imperial Guards.
"I will go to the Dali Temple first to report what happened in the camp outside the capital today." Qi Lingheng bowed and saluted to Emperor Jing.
"Well, go ahead. Take Hong Zhenhai, Lu Yongrui, and the evidences with them, and hand them over to the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, and the Censorate for a joint trial." With a wave of his hand, the Emperor Jingdi's royal guards picked up the box containing the evidences on the ground and left with Qi Lingheng.
"Yang Huaili, please go down first. I'm afraid you will be needed to testify during the trial of the case in Yangzhou."
"Yes, I'm at the inn in Kyoto, and the King of Qi knows where it is." Yang Huaili responded and retreated.
"Lu's brother Lu Yongrui privately opened an iron mine, privately forged weapons, concealed taxes, sold private salt, accepted bribes, bought and sold court positions, colluded with traitors, and disregarded the law of the country. He deserves death!
It has been verified that Lu accepted bribes and stolen goods. Today, Lu's position as concubine is abolished and she is demoted to a commoner. She is temporarily sent to the cold palace and no one is allowed to visit her.
All the palace maids and eunuchs around Lu will be beaten to death."
Emperor Jingdi issued an oral order. After hearing Emperor Jingdi's verdict on her, Concubine Li lowered her head, half-prostrated on the ground, and trembled.
It was not until the Imperial Guards came to hold up Concubine Li that she looked up at Emperor Jing in panic, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I didn't know those were stolen goods. If I am demoted, how will the Third Prince cope with the situation in the future, Your Majesty!!"
"Pull her away, block her mouth, and don't let her talk nonsense." Emperor Jing waved his hand, and someone immediately found a piece of cloth, stuffed it into Concubine Li's mouth, and pulled Concubine Li away.
"Prince Li is suspected of treason. Prince Li's family is temporarily confined to Prince Li's mansion. Send the Imperial Guards to surround and guard it. All maids, guards and servants in Prince Li's mansion are locked up in the Dali Temple prison. Once the charges are confirmed, they will be dealt with together!"
"Yes." More Royal Guards came forward, tied up all the sons of Prince Li who were in the side hall and took them out of the palace.
After Emperor Jing gave all the orders, he suddenly felt tired and made a gesture to Eunuch Fu.
"Your Majesty, respectfully escort you back to the palace!" Eunuch Fu signaled the eunuchs beside him to carry out Emperor Jing's dragon sedan chair. He carefully helped Emperor Jing sit on the sedan chair and left.
For a moment, the quiet yard became noisy again.
Some Imperial Guards took away the bodies of the men in black, and other Imperial Guards drove away the young masters from various families who came to attend the palace banquet today in an orderly manner.
For a moment, everyone was silent and followed the Imperial Guards out of the palace, as if they were all criminals who had committed crimes in the palace and were being exiled.
The garden where Su Tang was was in an uproar at this time.
Ever since Concubine Li was taken away by the sudden intrusion of the Imperial Guards, those young ladies from official families have been terrified.
They were just girls in the boudoir and had never seen such a situation as a house being ransacked.
Concubine Li was dragged away by the Imperial Guards, and even her seeking help from the Queen Mother was useless.
The Queen Mother was also shocked after what she had just seen. After Concubine Li was taken away, she handed over the management of the Summer Banquet to Concubine Xian and left with a group of maids.
"What happened? Isn't Concubine Li very favored? Why was she taken away by the Imperial Guards?"
The Imperial Guards are all men, but Emperor Jing actually allowed a man outside the court to touch his favorite concubine directly.
They had never heard of Concubine Li making any mistakes, and it was Concubine Li who organized the summer banquet.
Princess Li was sitting on the sidelines, sneering at Concubine Li's plight, saying, "It seems that Concubine Li has been disliked by His Majesty. I just don't know what she did wrong. Could it be that she has defiled the harem in the palace?"
Su Tang raised her eyebrows when she heard what Princess Li said.
"Princess Li, please be careful with your words. Nothing has been announced yet. Princess Li, please do not make random rumors. Be careful of what you say."
"What could have happened that would allow those men to drag away the emperor's concubine?" Princess Li's gloating expression did not subside at all, as if she had just watched a big show.
"Yes, just now Concubine Li asked the Empress Dowager for help, but the Empress Dowager ignored her. She must have made a big mistake." Princess Mingyue also echoed.
When Concubine Xian saw that Princess Li was still discussing Concubine Li and even brought Princess Mingyue to join in, she could only shake her head helplessly.
This summer banquet was originally meant to make the Queen Mother happy, but now the incident with Concubine Li happened and the Queen Mother left. Concubine Xian didn't want the female members of the family to stay in the palace any longer, so she had to warn all the noble ladies.
“You’d better keep what happened in the palace today to yourself, and don’t talk about it after you leave the palace. If someone tells what happened in the palace in the future and lets me and His Majesty know, you should know the consequences.” The virtuous concubine swept her eyes over everyone.
"Yes." All the noble ladies bowed their heads and responded.
Concubine Xian stood up and was about to announce the end of the Spring Banquet when another group of imperial guards came in from outside the garden. There were more of them than when they arrested Concubine Li just now.
"Haha, today is really lively. I wonder which concubine is going to be in trouble next." Princess Li chuckled.
But before she could suppress the smile on her face, she suddenly realized that the Royal Guards were coming towards her.
Princess Li looked around and found that there were several concubines of Emperor Jing standing beside her, and she felt a little relieved.
"Take Princess Li and Princess Mingyue away." The leading imperial guard gave an order and several imperial guards immediately stepped forward, trying to hold Princess Li and Princess Mingyue.
"Are you mistaken? I am not His Majesty's concubine..." Princess Li had not finished her words when she suddenly realized that what the Imperial Guards had just said was clearly about Princess Li and Princess Mingyue.
"You've arrested the wrong person. What wrong have Mingyue and I done?!" Princess Li yelled at the imperial guards who were approaching.
"Your Majesty has ordered that Prince Li intends to rebel and that Prince Li's family members be imprisoned in Prince Li's mansion."
There was a loud crash and the sound of tables, chairs and benches falling to the ground. In an instant, all the people around Princess Li dispersed.
Xuanyuan Mengyao, who had just been talking to Princess Mingyue, also quickly stepped aside.
Emperor Jing's decree stated that Prince Li was plotting a rebellion, a crime punishable by the punishment of nine generations of his clan.
They dared not stand so close to Princess Li again, for fear of being accused of being close to a traitor.
"Mother, what's going on? Let me go, don't touch me, I can leave by myself." Princess Mingyue first looked at Princess Li, and then yelled at the Royal Guards who were approaching her.
"Take them away." The leading imperial guard waved his hand, and Princess Li and Princess Mingyue were immediately dragged away. The servants from Prince Li's Mansion who came with Princess Li were also taken away.
"What's going on?" a noble lady whispered.
Could it be that Concubine Li being taken away by the Imperial Guards today was also related to Prince Li’s rebellion?
After all the imperial guards had left, Concubine Xian once again warned all the female members of the family and quickly dispersed them from the palace.
Su Tang stood up and looked at the virtuous concubine who was leaving in a hurry, and something flashed in her eyes.
Su Tang is a princess, so naturally she does not follow the same path as the noble ladies from official families.
Thirteen and the other underage princesses were escorted into the imperial palace by the eunuchs.
What happened today happened too suddenly. Thirteen didn't even have time to say goodbye to Su Tang before he was led away by the palace maids around him.
But before leaving, Thirteen still glanced in Su Tang's direction, and happened to meet Su Tang's eyes.
Su Tang smiled and nodded at Shisan, then left with Chunmei and Xiamei.
When she was about to leave the palace, Su Tang saw Qi Lingheng waiting at the palace gate.
"Are you so free?" Before coming, Qi Lingheng had already told Su Tang what Emperor Jing had arranged for him to do today.
Su Tang thought Qi Lingheng would be busy until very late, but unexpectedly he was already waiting for her here.
"Yes, it has just been dealt with." Qi Lingheng took Su Tang's hand, and the two walked towards the palace gate hand in hand.
"King Qi!"
Someone behind him was calling Qi Lingheng.
Su Tang recognized it as Xuanyuan Mengyao's voice.
She was about to stop and see what Xuanyuan Mengyao was calling Qi Lingheng for, but she found that Qi Lingheng was holding her hand without stopping.
Su Tang looked back, and Qi Lingheng beside her frowned unconsciously.
"Your Highness the Prince of Qi!!"
Qi Lingheng still ignored her and walked forward holding Su Tang's hand. The two of them quickly walked out of the palace and got on the carriage waiting at the gate.
Qi Lingheng personally lifted the curtain and helped Su Tang into the carriage.
When Su Tang turned around and sat down, she saw Xuanyuan Mengyao coming towards them.
But Xuanyuan Mengyao's eyes were always on Qi Lingheng.
After Qi Lingheng helped Su Tang get into the carriage, he also quickly got into the carriage and lowered the curtain.
"Go back home." Qi Lingheng gave the order, but the carriage did not move.
"Your Highness, Prince Qi, I have something I want to talk to you alone."
It should be Xuanyuan Mengyao who stopped a car outside.
Qi Lingheng frowned but did not reply.
Su Tang raised her eyebrows, moved closer to Qi Lingheng and asked in a low voice: "Why are you ignoring me?"
"I'm not familiar with it." Qi Lingheng said, and then shouted to the outside, "Qi Feng, clear the way."
"Yes." Qi Feng responded, followed by the sound of a whip passing through the air.
Then a woman's cry of pain was heard, but it was not Xuanyuan Mengyao.
The carriage finally started moving and drove away quickly.
"Why don't you ask what it is? What if she has something urgent?"
"What does it have to do with me?" Qi Lingheng said again, and then Qi Lingheng turned to look at Su Tang, "I am not familiar with her, but there are many women in Beijing who have feelings for me."
Qi Lingheng meant that Xuanyuan Mengyao was secretly in love with him, but he didn't care.
"I am lucky enough to meet you in my life. I will never look at any other woman again."
"Oh, then I'll tell grandma that you won't see her anymore."
"If you say this to grandma, I'm sure she'll bring out the family rules." Qi Lingheng sighed helplessly.
"I have never seen the Qi family's family rules."
"When our children are born, you will see if they make you angry in the future."
Su Tang...this is something a real father could say.
A few days later.
Prince Li was convicted of treason, and all the servants and guards in Prince Li's mansion were exiled. Prince Li and his descendants were even sentenced to beheading.
Princess Li and Princess Mingyue were demoted to commoners, and along with the servants of Prince Li's mansion, they were sent to the northwest military camp as exiles.
At the same time, Concubine Li in the palace suddenly died.
There was even news that the third prince was seriously ill and in a coma.